Vera Schey - June 10, 1994

Meeting Husband

Yeah. So in 1946 uh, after the uh, American Consulate opened again in, in Budapest, those who had visas and couldn't use it because of circumstances of war, were given new visa.

When did you meet Leslie?

I knew Leslie before the war because I was a uh, tutorer. I was tutoring English in Budapest. Uh, when I was still in high school. And so was he. And he got a new job from Budapest into small town, and a mutual friend said to him, "You have some students and I know a girl who's--also has students. Why don't you give her your students because you're going out of town." And that's how we met. And we saw each other for a few months and I did not like him. And, and that was the end. And then after the war when he came back to uh, Budapest he looked me up and didn't know you know, if we are alive or not. And there I am. And uh, then we started dating. And four months later we were engaged. And not quite a year later we were married. And uh, so then he got his visa. We both left in 1946.

Not your mother.

No, I couldn't bring my mother. My mother was left behind and uh, in--after we became citizens, which is five years, then she's on the preference quota. There was no quota numbers available. Hungarian quota numbers were very few. Then we could bring her, but in the meantime we managed to bring her to Canada. Uh, we found a farmer who signed an affidavit that he would use her as a farm help. And in Canada at that time that's how immigration was possible. And in 19...uh, '49 we brought her out. "Brought her out," she escaped from Hungary through the borders at night because communism was, was government. She couldn't leave Hungary legally. So she escaped into a border at night and was in Vienna and then from Vienna she got to Paris and she lived in Paris until we were able to send her to visas to Canada--to Windsor. And she was in Windsor until we became citizens. And then she became, came on the preference quota and then she could...Quite a complicated story...

Yes.

...and I only gave it to you in a nutshell because it was much more complicated than that.

Did you seek out other Jews after the war in, in Budapest?

Oh, oh sure. Anybody who knew anybody with you know, we--all of our friends, all of our relatives, we tried to--whoever was alive. Certainly. Whatever food we had we made a little party. This one brought this, this one brought that and this--because nobody had anything left. And there was no food available at the time, so we had meetings and we made dinners with, with whatever anybody had and...